Tamil Nadu to encourage more ST students to join IIT, NIT

Seeking to help Scheduled Tribe (ST) students to get admission into prestigious institutions like the IITs and NITs, Tamil Nadu government today said it would fund private coaching for selected candidates.
A total of 50 ST students would be selected through a test and the government would fund their coaching in a private institute, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Minister N Subramanian told the Assembly.
The test would be conducted by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department and private coaching institutes within the state would be selected for their training, he said.
The government also expanded its spoken English training to Class 6, 7 and 8 students, in addition to Class 9 and 11 students.

"The training would be funded with the Special State Assistance of Rs 8.80 crore, presently with Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation Limited (TAHDCO)," he said.
As for their teachers, the government also intends to hone the managerial skills of headmasters of schools run by the department.
It would send 203 headmasters on a five-day training on managerial skill development to Anna Institute of Management at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, Subramanian said.